I was driving to work the other morning, thinking about writing. What makes a work worth reading? What makes it engaging to the reader? Is it style? It is providing useful knowledge? Is it, as your middle school English teacher probably told you, a creative hook to grab the reader’s attention?1
For the purposes of this newsletter, what’s the hook? Is it, as it presumably should be, the recipe each week? The photos? Is it the meandering introductions that ebb and flow and probably make you wonder what in Sam Hill2 are you even reading?3 Is it, ideally, some combination of all of these things, some secret sauce4 that keeps you coming back, hungry for more?
For me, it’s the act of writing itself. I love the cooking, but in every day life, communication has been reduced5 to hastily written emails, quick texts, and a thumbs up. It’s not bad, but for a guy who majored in English because he liked to read, sometimes it’s nice to flex those literary muscles6 and just put the proverbial pen to paper7.
Anyway, in the act of thinking about writing, I got to thinking about the concept of in media res, and I had a whole opening paragraph written in my mind with that concept as the basis. But here I am, four paragraphs into this week’s introduction and I haven’t even come close to tying things back to the kitchen. So, we’ll skip the lesson in literary terms and talk about the recipe.
As evidenced by the weather (though the last few days have been an exception), summer is over. Gone are bright, early mornings; here are crisp, late ones. That means only one thing: It’s chili season!
Because I’m running a little nutrition experiment, this week’s version is a slight deviation from the classic CWD chili recipe. But, having eaten about a pound of this version, I can say it’s a-okay. Feel free to augment or amend as needed.
Let’s get going.
In a heavy bottomed pot, brown a boat load of ground meat8. I like a minimum of three pounds, but adjust as appetites and availability dictate. Season liberally with either a dedicated chili seasoning, or with a mix of cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and a hit of cayenne. While that’s cooking, dice up some peppers, and dump those into the pot.
After the meat is cooked mostly through and the veggies are soft, add two large cans of diced tomatoes, some additional seasoning, and then reduce to a simmer. Let this ride for at least an hour, and up to 8 or so, adding more tomatoes or liquid as needed. It’s ready when everything is cohesive.
Enjoy hot with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, and hot sauce.
That’s it, folks. This is a super easy recipe and can be scaled to as large as your largest pot. If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, I’d recommend adding diced onions and garlic, and if you’re not a purist, dump in some rinsed, canned beans in a 1:1 ratio to your meat.
So take advantage of the weekend, get outside, and make something delicious! We’ll see you back here next week.
I, for better or for worse, taught this to my middle schoolers. We all need to start with an ATTENTION GRABBER!!!!
You don’t need to answer that, but I am thinking about it.
Pun!
Pun!
Literal too, but that’s why we lift.
Pixels to screen?
We used beef here, with some diced leftovers from the chuck roast we made last week. You could also add some ground pork, chicken, turkey, or lamb — and if you have it available, venison would be lovely.
...Had to re-read the recipe one more time. Even though it is really easy, wanted to make sure I did not forget a step. Making it tonight with ground turkey...3 LBS!!!!...because I am my son's mother and like "boatloads."
Lou--YOU are the hook for me!! Nobody says it better or more eloquently, or uses more words in both your introductory prose and in the recipes that I sometimes have to look up in the dictionary (is that still a thing for anyone else?). Love to hear whatever you have to say (even though I do not ALWAYS agree), and especially love your recipes. Thankfully, this one is so easy I only have to read it once!